Sehwag: Decline Of The Daredevil

Now that its clear that Virender Sehwags chances of returning to the Indian team are slim, and seeing that he has found runs hard to come by in domestic cricket, retirement cannot be too far off. And while things can change quickly in sport, the likelihood of him getting back into his countrys colours is further hampered by the feeling, for the time being at least, that the incumbents currently occupying the opening positions are relatively secure.

Sehwag shouldered much of the blame for Delhis early departure from the Ranji Trophy so much so that Delhi captain, Gautam Gambhir, has been forced to come to his defence. Adding even more to his troubles are reports that have surfaced indicating that the Delhi franchise might not retain his services for this years seventh edition of the Indian T20 League. Clearly, the belligerent opener has seen happier days.

Such are the vicissitudes of a sporting career: troughs follow peaks almost as religiously as night follows day. If you stay long enough, the chances of it all ending in disappointment and dejection are much greater than it ending in contentment and rejoicing.

Yet, even if Sehwag never plays another cricket match, he has already enriched the game beyond description. To batting in general, and the opening spot in particular, he brought an approach that was instinctive and forthright, based almost purely on attack. Defence was only a last resort; in full flight he had little need for it. As CLR James wrote of Wilton St. Hill, a highly regarded Trinidadian batsman of the early 1900s, when he was on the go it was the bowler who needed defence, not he. (Beyond A Boundary, p. 95)

Sehwag ignored the precepts that were handed down throughout the history of the game and followed his own way. Purists looked askance at his methods. Opening batsmen werent expected to blaze away from the first ball as Sehwag did; they were supposed to remove the gloss off the new ball and the sting from the opening bowlers before assuming the ascendency, making the road smoother for himself and his comrades to follow. Sehwag chose a completely different path and he would not be diverted from it.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it chose him. There is nothing to indicate that he could have altered his methods to any substantial degree even if he tried. Hitting the ball hard and often is the way he plays; trying to do otherwise would be, for him, to attempt to be something other than what he was.

In Fred: Portrait Of A fast Bowler, John Arlott had this to say about the great speedster: He was purely in method, mind and heart a fast bowler; and he could never be less than that. For that reason he could never be a fast-medium or medium-pace bowlerWith the years his pace did, indeed, deteriorate to fast-medium; but that was, in fact, deterioration, not a compromise nor a deliberate adjustment.

It has to be conceded that batting the way Sehwag does has its pitfalls. The daring shot is exhilarating when it comes off, reckless when it does not. The scorching drive through the covers is a thing of beauty when it whistles to the boundary, insipid when it catches an edge on its way to the slip fielder, or when miscued into the chest of the man at mid-off. But it is difficult to argue with Sehwags kind of assault and battery when he was so successful over such a long time.

In 103 Tests he has racked up 8503 runs at 49.43 with 23 centuries, two of them triple hundreds, four of them double hundreds. Before Sehwag, nobody would have thought it was possible to score that many runs at an overall strike rate of 82.17. His 319 off 309 balls in Chennai in 2008 against South Africa was a highlight reel that just went on and on and on. It was rare for other batsmen to score at a run-a-ball or better in tests; for Sehwag it was commonplace.

Opponents, wary of his capacity to snatch a game away in a trice, were always overjoyed to see the back of the great swashbuckler. He always began like a runaway locomotive, demoralizing adversaries and handing India the upper hand, which would not be easily wrested away with Dravid, Tendulkar, and Laxman to follow.

Sehwag served India well. Now, however, balls do not fly from his blade as often and as hard as they did before. With no rock-solid defensive technique to fall back on, decline may prove irreversible and the end may indeed be near. If he fails to emerge from his current troubles Sehwag will understandably be disappointed but he has much of which to be proud.

He has made an indelible mark on the great game that will never be forgotten. Devotees of cricket should remember, not the Sehwag searching for runs up and down the Delhi batting order, averaging less than 20 and passing 50 only once.

Instead, they should remember the Sehwag who scored big runs for his country at rapid rates; the Sehwag whose entire career was one highlight reel after another, the forthright, uncompromising batsman who teammates appreciated and opponents feared. They should remember the real Virender Sehwag.